Aggravation Not Advised
by Strange Thoughts Over Tea
Summary: What if Dr. Banner was not a guy, but a young woman? What if he didn't turn into a giant green rage monster when he was angry, but something equally as devastating? What if he was a different type of doctor? And what if she fell in love with another avenger? My take on what would happen if Dr. Banner was not a Bruce, but a Bree instead. Open for pairing suggestions! AU.


**AN: I absolutely love the Avengers, and thought that it was about time that I wrote a fic for it! Some things you might want to know:**

**- This chapter is pre-movie. But we will be meeting the Avengers soon! S.H.I.E.L.D, at least.**

**- Her title is Miss Bree Banner, as she isn't quite a doctor yet!**

**- She didn't grow up in the USA; I wanted to add this into the summary but it didn't quite fit!**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this but some of the plot, I suppose? Does Bree count as my own? I'm not sure. Hope you enjoy!**_

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February 2004, 19 yrs old

Ugh. That hurt.

Standing up and straightening my aching muscles, I didn't bother to contain my disappointment.

No one was around to see, anyway. In fact, I'd been for alone for a long time-while I had at first been comfortable in isolation it obviously wasn't working out; having driven me to take that leap off the top of the old tree.

It didn't work. I was still there, alive and well, albeit being upset. I shouldn't have been surprised; it never worked.

I let the tears slowly roll down my face as I glared at its branches. This obviously wasn't going to succeed anytime soon. I just wouldn't bloody die, try as I may.

It was time for a change.

* * *

_I had always been a little different from the other kids. I was an introvert, even as a preschooler. Reserved and quiet. That never changed, really._

_Little things would happen every now and again that were a bit… strange. I would know what the teachers were thinking when they walked past me in the school corridor, or know what someone wanted to have for dinner when all they had said was hello. I put it down to me being a good listener- understanding people's thoughts and intents simply because I had observed them so often in the past._

_The constant buzz of thoughts was exhausting, and by the time I was 8 I suffered from chronic migraines- the pain was terrible and I was prescribed heavy meds for it. After 6 or so months of being a drugged-up and sleepy 9 year old I took matters into my own hands and figured out how to self regulate who and when I could hear others thinking. I thought I was 'fixed', and kept my ability (that I now knew wasn't average) to myself. I liked school and I didn't want anything to get in the way of it._

_Then it just got weird._

_I was playing hide and seek in the playground in broad daylight when it happened. I was class champion at the game, and it was a title I wore proudly._

_We'd been playing for almost an hour, and all decent hiding spots had well and truly been exhausted._

_I was midway through my sprint to a hiding spot when I heard it._

"_Ready or not, here I come!" _

_This was it. I was standing in the open. The title was good as gone; I could practically feel it slipping between my chubby little fingers. I had failed. I didn't have a hiding spot._

_As the girl tasked as the seeker turned towards the playground, I hoped for a miracle. For her to somehow look past me. For me to turn into a bird and fly far from her gaze, unseen._

_But no, I still stood there, and winced as she started her skip towards me. I'd been seen. _

_Closing my eyes, I braced for her voice that I knew was about to call my name. I waited. There was silence._

_I opened my eyes in shock. How hadn't she seen me? I reached up to my face to tuck some loose hair behind my ear. But my hand wasn't there._

_In fact, I was invisible._

* * *

April 2004, 19 yrs old

I had moved and was finally beginning to settle into my new home in Johannesburg, South Africa. I had chosen it because of its distance from the rest of the world and life was good there- I was surrounded by people and fit in well enough. I managed to learn the local language of Afrikaans through accessing the language sectors in the local's brains and I lived my life as your average, if not slightly nerdy, 21 year old shop assistant at a bookstore. I indulged my passion in psychology by studying it at the local university- and was happy living the life that had I never gotten to have. I ignored my 'special' abilities, and it was having the desired effect- I felt less like a freak, a misfit, an outsider.

There was only one problem. The name of the suburb I resided in; Victoria.

I thought that it would be OK at first- it was just a name, after all. Why would it even matter?

I soon realized that this wouldn't be the case. Every sign I saw, every time it was spoken, it was like a blow to my chest. I would try to comfort myself, but it never worked.

Close your eyes and breathe, Bree. In, out. Count to ten.

You'll be OK.

* * *

October 2001, 16 yrs old

_Another normal Tuesday at my high school in Victoria, Australia. I went to 1__st__ period feeling like a loser, 2__nd__ period feeling like a freak and 3__rd__ feeling miserable and alone. By period 4, the last period of the day, I was well and truly a mess. We had a rare whole school assembly, everyone cramming into the main hall to talk about bullying among other issues. Guest speaker after guest speaker gave what was essentially the same speech- if being a teenager was hard when they were young some good 10 years ago, they can only imagine how it would be with texting and the internet. Yeah, well try also having impossible abilities that you hide from everyone just so that you can be treated as a human being. Suck it up._

_As they lectured, I felt myself growing angrier. What do they know about being different? How dare they think that they have the right to preach on something they had barely even experienced? They didn't know what it was like to be scared and alone. They didn't know what it was like to be depressed. To be a freak who had to be by herself, for the good of everyone else._

_My silent hysteria snowballed. I was sick of everything. I wanted them to shut up, once and for all._

_I'm not really sure what happened then. I can kind of remember a terrible headache and feeling myself collapse onto the floor._

_When regained consciousness, I was greeted with a sight that I would never forget, no matter how much I would later wish that I could._

_Bodies. Hundreds and hundreds of bodies, some drooped over their chairs, onto each other, and some even onto the floorboards._

_They looked at peace, and for a moment I felt that way, more relieved than I ever had in my life._

_There was absolute silence, not a single word or thought intruding into my mind. Perhaps I could finally relax. And man had I earned it._

_As I crossed my legs so that I could comfortably sit and enjoy that moment of peace, the weight of what had just occurred sank in and outweighed the relief._

_I tried to stand, but my legs gave way. What had I just done? I gazed at the bodies all around me, lying quiet, without movement._

_Dead._

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**AN: Likey? No likey? Shoot me a review so I can get an idea of what you think!**

**That was... really short. And probably confusing as well. I'll revise it later on, I think.**

**When I wrote this it was going to be about an OC who was going to be paired with Bruce, but I realized how similar they were, and kind of... merged them. Next chapter will be much more organised!**

**Anyway, there will be some avenger romance later on. Who would you like her to be with? And are there any other pairings you would like me to include? I haven't decided yet.**

**Any queries, suggestions, or even flames can be sent my way through review and pm. Cheers!**

**~Strange Thoughts Over Tea**


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